Eggs Benny with Emily: City Line

Emily L. is back with another guest post, and this time she was more successful on her brunch outing. Today we’re talking brunch on Thursday, because I’m hoping to spend Friday talking about beer. Anyhow, with the weekend rapidly approaching, maybe this will provide a bit of inspiration for your brunching plans.

Although if you aren’t heading off to Field Notes I might have to question your priorities. That said, there are many great options for brunch these days. I’ve heard that chef Josh is slinging brunch again, but now at his Troy restaurant Nighthawks. I’m not sure how much they will be like what he used to serve at The Low Beat, but knowing Josh, this will be worth the outing.

Sometimes a great brunch is all about proximity. Like Emily, I too live close to City Line. So I was especially eager to hear how this one went. Here is her story.

The challenge is finally back on! I live close to City Line Bar and Grill. I go there for a decent beer selection and meeting up with friends on their spacious patio, but to be quite honestly, I always found their food to be mediocre. Too many things on the menu and nothing done right. High price points ($15 for a salad, $18 for “zoodles”) for mediocre quality. I didn’t even know they offered a brunch menu until a friend offered to meet their for brunch to give their eggs benedict a try.

Walking in on a Sunday around noon, the restaurant was dead, but the patio was filled with hungover college students trying to recover from the night before. Our waitress was friendly, but often distracted talking with her friends off to a corner. Looking over the brunch menu, it was quite smaller then the dinner menu. City Line offers two different versions of eggs benedict, a chicken fried steak version and a crabcakes version. I opted for the crabcakes.

After waiting about 30 minutes, our food came to the table. The benedicts featured two fried crabcakes on a toasted english muffin with poached eggs, spinach, old bay hollandaise, and a side of tater tots. After my previous experience with crabcake benedicts at Cafe Madison, I did not have high hopes. I ended up being pleasantly surprised.

Was it the best eggs benedict I ever had? No. But the crabcakes were crispy (though heavy on bread filling and light on crab) and the eggs were perfectly poached. The spinach was lightly sautéed and old bay seasoning brought an extra kick out in the hollandaise. The flavors blended together nicely and moscow mule helped wash it all down. The tater tots were nothing to write home about; mushy and greasy, I ate one and gave the others to my friends.

After waiting another 30 minutes for our check, we headed out. Brunch at City Line was one my better food experiences there, but the service needs help. Would I go back? Probably. The price point ($14) was fair for a generous portion; I didn’t eat the rest of the day. Are the eggs benedict better than New World’s? No. But they satisfied my craving on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Well that is certainly encouraging. I’m glad Emily takes pictures, because I’m not sure about that hollandaise sauce. It looks mighty tight, veering perhaps on the wrong side gloppy. It’s a bummer about the tots though. Mushy and greasy is no way for fried things to be served.

If I were served that plate, the first thing I would do is dump the tots from the basket and remove the paper napkin. That way any errant yolk or extra dollops of sauce, could be swiped up with the fried potatoes.

Still, if I needed a decadent treat on a nice morning, taking a walk to City Line and eating brunch on the patio certainly sounds lovely. And I never would have considered it before. So thank you Emily for doing this important research.

If you have any other tips on where she should try, besides Illium on a Saturday, I know Emily continues to welcome suggestions. And I think she may also be up for having co-conspirators come along. So feel free to reach out in the comments below.